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June 24, 2008
Food for Free - Elderflower Cordial
Our half-acre plot is surrounded by mature trees, including several elders that are currently blossoming in a profusion of heady-smelling, cream-coloured flowerheads. Rather than just admiring them this year and thinking - afterwards, of course - that I should have made elderflower cordial, last weekend I dug out my recipe, buckets and ingredients, made a special trip to the chemist for citric acid, picked a selection of the flowers and had it made in minutes. The recipe I used comes via my mother, who noticed one of her students drinking a bottle of elderflower cordial last summer and got her mum's recipe for me. Ever since then it's been sitting on the kitchen mantelpiece, just waiting for some elderflowers - and a little motivation!
There were tastings along the way, random teaspoonfuls here and there, as I tried to gauge the strength of the brew. I eventually strained and bottled the results after three days-worth of steeping. According to the recipe, this keeps well in the fridge for a couple of weeks or, if you don't think that you will use it up in that time, just freeze it in ice cubes, ready to be landed into a jug of water on a hot day. It's the scent of summer in a glass even if - as today - the rain is driving down.
Elderflower Cordial
Elderflower heads - 10
Caster sugar - 1lb 12oz caster sugar
Water - 1½ pints boiled and slightly cooled
Lemon - 1, washed and thinly sliced
Citric acid - 1oz
Give the elderflower heads a gentle shake to make sure that there are no spiders or creepy crawlies living in them.
Put the caster sugar in a large bowl or small bucket and pour over the still-warm water. Stir well and add the sliced lemon, citric acid and elderflower heads. Cover and leave for 2 to 3 days, stirring occasionally.
Strain through a muslin-lined sieve. Use immediately, diluted with water to taste, or store in clean plastic bottles - I reuse old water bottles - for up to two weeks. It also freezes very well. The cordial is particularly good diluted with sparkling water.
Makes about 2 pints of cordial.
Posted by Caroline at June 24, 2008 6:32 PM
Comments
oooooooo lovely, I've a bottle of m&s organic elderflower cordial downstairs and it's gorgeous, would say this is even better, wonder where I can get elderflowers...........................
Posted by: Rachel@fairycakeheaven on June 24, 2008 11:11 PM
Where do you live, Rachel? They're on every ditch down in North Cork at the moment, you just can't avoid them!
Posted by: Caroline on June 25, 2008 10:13 PM
I'm in Meath, Caroline, but the husbag thinks he knows where we can get some of these, wonder are they safe to use??? Am thinking road germs et al!
Posted by: Rachel@fairycakeheaven on June 29, 2008 4:55 PM
Hey! Long time no speaky my dear...great Blog as ever. We actually made our very first (Sligo) Elderflower Cordial recently (after too many years of threatening to) and used a spoonful of Aspall's Organic Cyder Vinegar instead of the Citric Acid and it worked a treat - we also only had time to steep for 24 hours but the flavour was wonderfully fresh and strong with a little bit of an exciting earthy 'hedgerow' bite - the only mistake was that we didn't make enough so roll on next May/June ;-)
Posted by: Karl on July 3, 2008 11:37 AM
That's good to know, Karl. Will definitely try that for next time. I was hoping to make Elderflower Champagne as well but the weather was not very favorable for flower picking - as far as I know, you're supposed to pick them on a calm, sunny day so that you get the maximum amount of pollen. I rather think that the most of the elderflower pollen around here was either being washed or blown off. Still, always good to have a project planned for the next elderflower season!
Posted by: Caroline on July 3, 2008 9:46 PM
